The Alternative
by J.Dax
Summary: Exerpts from a series of alternate realities just to see if Sam and Jack really end up together in every one.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: No, I don't think I own Stargate, but maybe in an alternate universe I do and perhaps that means that creators of Stargate in this universe should be putting up disclaimers.

(A/N: Okay this fic answers the question to how many Alternate realities there are where Jack and Sam end up together, completely AU. And if you have any ideas for other Realities please review and let me know what they are so I can post them.)

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Alternate Reality One 

"Hey, Sam, how was work...With the doohikeys and, worm hole thingys, and all that techno stuff...?" Jack O'Neill asked, his face contorting in confusion with a half-hearted attempt to actually remember some of the scientific names of the technology his best friend worked with at the SGC.

He was not particularly cleared to hear about most of the stuff her job required, although he had been asked to come out of retirement by the Air force to help with the Stargate program originally, he had declined. But if the military had any worries about him leaking important information, then they obviously had had their brass on too long, no way in hell was any normal human going to believe what really went on in the secreted base tucked away atop the Cheyenne mountain.

Colonel Samantha Carter raised her eyebrows at his designated terms for most of the gear she worked with, "Please, Jack" she commented a bit humorously while accepting a beer from his outstretched hand, "Don't strain yourself with all those big words on my account"

He mock glared at her sarcastic tone after pulling his head out of the fridge and motioning toward the door of his quaint little cabin, "Watch it, Carter, if I had come out of retirement you could've been court marshaled for that remark"

Even though his tone was gruff and serious when he said this, Sam had long ago learned how to discern for her friend's sense of humor and replied to his statement by simply smiling and passing his gesturing arm out the door so that could sit on the porch of his humble home away from home.

They sat together on his porch swing watching the sunset in a lush, dramatic fashion of colorful radiance; she replied to his previous question, "Work was good. I managed to decipher those unusual energy signatures permeating the atmosphere on PN7-4W3, Daniel translated a new alien language we were unfamiliar with and so now he and Jonas have been locked in his office since we returned trying to read every scrap of writing we picked up on that planet. And Fay'Drom was just glad we got through one mission without having to shoot someone, be shot at, or engage in otherwise frivolous exchanges of gun fire"

Jack took a sip of beer and frowned, "But I thought Fay'Drom liked things that shoot other things". Fay'Drom was a Tok'ra who had joined the team after SG-1's first mission, the Tok'ra had thought it wise that there be someone to watch over the humans in instances concerning Jaffa who they were more than likely to run into while operating the Stargate.

"She does" Sam answered, "But only when the other things being shot at are not us"

Jack nodded in understanding and there was a lull in their conversation as they both turned they're full attention to the view before them and admired its simple brilliance.

After a while Jack turned to face her, letting one of his legs rest on the swing and his other dangle down to push off the porch and set the swing in a slight rocking motion, "So why are you here and not cooped up in the lab like you usually are?" he questioned, "Not that I'm complaining..."

Sam shrugged and met his quizzical expression, "General Frasier ordered me out, she said I was starved for rest and you were starved for my attention"

Jack feigned offense, "Tell Janet I am not starved for your attention" he replied indignantly, taking a swig of his beer to punctuate his sentence as he defiantly scowled while still at the same time managing to look cute and pouting like a child.

Sam grinned, "Three calls to the base in less than an hour, Jack?" she said, leaning forward to tousle his short dark gray hair simply because he knew she hated when he acted angry and childlike, and she knew he hated when she treated him that way.

He swatted her hand away with annoyance but looked at her innocently, "Well, someone has to give you and excuse to get you out of there, Sam. I keep telling you to get a social life, but you'd rather bury your nose in a physics journal than have dinner with another human being"

Sam had to laugh at that, "You're one to talk, you're practically married to your fishing pole"

"Awww, and what a fine pair we have made" he commented with a smile of his own.

Sam shook her head at the unbelievably isolated man in front of her who constantly tried to drag her away from work and lectured her about how she needed to get out more.

She thought back to the first time that they had met over eight years ago, sometimes she couldn't believe it had only been years when it felt like she had known him for decades. They both arrived in the briefing room at SGC for the very first time because apparently a young archeologist needed their help.

General Janet Frasier had not yet arrived and so Dr. Jonas Quinn thought they should get to informally know each other, although Jack had made it adamantly clear that he would not be staying for long, perhaps not even for this one mission, he still had not decided if he should come out of retirement yet. Still, Jonas insisted and then Major Carter snapped to a salute when Jack explained who he was.

Jack's incredulous gaze slowly made its way up from the _oh so interesting_ table surface in front of him to the Major's standing form, "Hey, Carter is it? I ain't in the Air force anymore. Relax...now...that's an order?" he was slightly amused at her almost completely military behavior and was a bit rusty at responding to the usual attitude it entailed.

Sam visibly eased her tensed posture and said, "Sorry, Sir"

"Jack" O'Neill corrected, "And you are?"

"Sam" she replied, holding out her hand. They shook briefly before curiosity began to boil within the former Colonel and he soon had a variety of questions to ask the young and beautiful officer before him, "What kind of expertise are you bringing into this shindig exactly, Sam?"

"Knowledge of physics, engineering experience, and scientific expertise covering multiple subjects, Sir" she replied curtly. She noticed his cringe when she called him "sir" and quickly amended with, "I mean, Jack"

Just then General Frasier walked in and began the briefing, but the whole time Jack's attention was on the Major, who seemed genuinely enthusiastic about the whole Stargate thing where as he was utterly bored.

Janet finished the meeting by saying, "Jack, I know you probably are not going to even think twice before picking your desolate fishing hole over this mission, but would you at least consider being an on call member of this current organization? Your abilities may come in handy now and then"

And so over the course of the eight years, Samantha dedicating her entire life to the SGC, while Jack dedicated no more than three days every other month, the two became the most unlikely friends.

Sam smiled at the thoughts that now flooded her mind while she sat next to the man who was at least twenty years older than her but sometimes looked and acted like a man half his age. She was content being his friend for their companionship was comfortable and easy. She wouldn't trade it for all the scientific advancements in the universe.

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Alternate Reality Two 

Samantha Carter nervously tugged at the red velvet shirt she was wearing which she considered to be too low cut in the neck for her to feel very comfortable in. The entire afternoon had been spent on an off world planet, appropriately named Victoria Thirteen for its refined and uniquely rustic although technologically advanced culture.

She and the rest of SG-1 had been invited to attend an honorary ceremony, which the Victorian people were hosting to celebrate the reign of their new king after the Stargate team had killed their previous ruler after finding him to be host to a Goa'uld and having oppressed the people of the planet in harsh dictatorship for an unbearably lengthy time.

The Victorians had requested they dress formally in elegant and tasteful clothing that would reflect the culture. Major Carter had wanted to wear her ceremonial military uniform, but Cassandra Frasier, the resident planetary cultural expert and archeologist for the SG-1 team, had insisted that it was not elegant enough and might offend the Victorians.

So Cassandra wrangled her boyfriend Daniel Jackson, who also happened to be Sam's best friend and favorite SGC doctor, into picking out her outfit for her because she knew Sam could never resist his decisions no matter how much she hated or disagreed with them. He would just flash her a sweetly shy pout that made her cave every time.

So now she was feeling absolutely ridiculous standing beside her CO, Colonel Makepeace, in a satin and lace outfit that looked like something out of Medieval story books, pretending not to be jealous that her long term crush, free lance pilot Jack O'Neill, was flirting with every girl in sight.

Of course he was drunk, no surprise there. Sam and Daniel had both warned him to stay away from the thick, molasses tasting, brown and black Victorian beverages that resembled melted chocolate. They had a dangerously high amount of synthesized chemicals in them, which were strongly similar to alcohol and dangerous to the human immune system.

She wished she would stop wasting her breath though, anything that Daniel or Cassie or she had ever tried to explain to him concerning his health normally fell on deaf ears. Jack O'Neill was a fairly intelligent guy, but for every burst of genius he had, stupidity would almost certainly follow in its wake.

Sometimes Sam wondered why they even kept O'Neill around. He was really just a pilot and there was never much call for those types of talents where the SGC was concerned. But then she would have to reluctantly admit to herself that he was also an excellent engineer, although you never would have guessed if you hadn't seen him repair some technical gizmos with your own eyes. And unfortunately for her there was a need for engineers at the SGC.

Carter let her thoughts drift when she noticed that yet again Jack was practically drooling over some young woman half his age. She did not want to think on that right at the moment. Her feelings for Jack had been a long time brewing and she knew his feelings for her because of those randomly rare and all too often opportune occasions when they had both been forced to openly admit there emotions towards each other because of some circumstance or another.

Jack had once been forced to tell her that he loved her because they had been submitted to a form of alien lie detector test set up by the Asguard that was supposed to determine your level of integrity when it came to certain aspects of the SGC and other world planets they came into contact with. One of the factors for determining this just happened to be how you felt about some of the people you worked with.

Afterwards, Jack had cornered Sam and told her that he meant what he said, but he did not think it would be a good idea to act on his feelings because it might jeopardize the team if they pursued a relationship. Carter had known that from the beginning.

Even though O'Neill was not a military man and it would not be against regulations if they were to be involved, the SGC still came first and it wouldn't be the best scenario in combat if the two most respected people on the SG-1 were to put each other above the safety of the entire team.

Sam sighed and turned away from the scene before her. Colonel Makepeace glanced worriedly at his second in command, noticing her depressive behavior, "Carter, you know everyone trusts you enough not to put Jack over your job obligations" he offered, "The Asguard machine determined that even with your feelings for him and vise versa, you two would always make sure to keep them at bay when necessary"

Sam nodded, "Yes, Sir" she replied detachedly.

The Colonel frowned at her absent response. His eyes fell on Jack across the ballroom floor; the engineer had himself surrounded by doting women. An idea suddenly struck Makepeace and he smiled to himself.

"You know" he added, turning to face the Major, "You getting together with Jack would actually benefit the team. Daniel and Cassandra would quit stressing themselves trying to get you two together, you would have way fewer fights and would work together more efficiently, that would make General Hammond happy. And have you ever noticed how Jack only drinks when you guys are mad at each other, but he can be sober for weeks if you're on good terms? That would be certainly beneficial..." he trailed off in order to gage her reaction to his out speaking.

Carter looked over at Jack once more, only he was no longer on the other side of the room being the life of the party.

"You know, I think the Colonel has a point"

Sam heard the all too familiar voice behind her, and she turned to see Jack standing there with a grin on his face and wearing ripped jeans and a leather jacket and his signature baseball cap. At the moment she envied him being able to deny orders and not having to dress formal. It made her all the more self-conscious about what she was wearing and what he had just overheard Makepeace say.

Carter looked over her shoulder only to find that her CO had gone MIA on her and she was stuck with Jack.

"Don't worry, Sammie," he said delightfully, indulging in her embarrassment and putting an arm around her shoulders, "Everyone knows I love you", he planted a quick kiss on her forehead.

"You're drunk," she mumbled although he did not sound drunk, still she was unaffected by his good cheer and charm, trying to pull out of his grip. He held tighter and leaned in to whisper in her ear, "I'll let you in on a secret," he said with a gleeful tone, "I actually do take your advice, all of it all the time, I can't help it. I'm not drunk, Sammie" he beamed at her.

Sam groaned inwardly, the one time she needed the man to be stoned so he wouldn't remember anything that her CO had said, was the one time he decides to inform her that he actually listens to her.

"I've been thinking," he said, guiding her over to a secluded area of the room where they were hidden for the most part from any interested on lookers, "I think that it's more distracting to not be with you than if we were to have a relationship..." he took his arm away from her shoulders and stood face to face with her, taking her hands in his, "Will you go steady with me?" he said in the cutest tone, like he was a school boy asking his crush out for the first time.

Sam smiled, and then laughed lightly at his shy expression, "I suppose..." she said, and his instantly swept her up in a passionate kiss that would have been the envy of every girl in the room had they been paying attention.

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Alternate Reality Three 

Daniel Jackson muttered curses under his breath. It had become part of his morning ritual after entering the SGC base and first making a stop in Carter's favorite lab, only to find that most of the time she wasn't there now. And why would she be? For the past six months she had been married to General Jack O'Neill and now had an excuse to not stay after shift or come in extremely early to squeeze in extra overtime while working on science projects she just couldn't seem to tear herself away from.

Daniel despised the fact his favorite Doctor was no longer his. Not that she ever truly was. But he missed her awfully, and his unrequited love churned in horrible agony within him. He remembered the good old days, when the only thing between Jack and Sam was their constant fighting. Almost the entire first two years that the SG-1 had been together, almost every mission had resulted in arguments between the Colonel and Dr. Carter about how things should've been handled.

Their bickering had practically driven her seek companionship from Daniel and Teal'c, and her and Daniel had become fast friends and excellent lab partners. They had so much intelligence in common that it was almost frightening for everyone on the base when they both began brainstorming together.

Airmen would literally rush away from them when they were walking down the halls together, chatting animatedly about some scientific discovery or another, and Colonel O'Neill was along with Teal'c on most occasions, was certainly nowhere to be found when Edison and Franklin (as they were referred to most of the time) started a conversation.

Daniel could not stop himself from falling instantly in love with the woman, her genius was something to be admired and recognized. It became routine for them to work together through nights when they were supposed to have gone home, and in the early hours of the morning hurriedly rushing back to the lab to continue their research. And if one of them had a burst of inspiration at home, it did not matter what time it was, they would immediately call the other one up and the two would sneak into the lab to test the idea.

In the mean time, Jack and Teal'c formed a pretty close friendship of their own, and soon the SG-1 was split down the middle. Yet even with this drastic division, they had still managed to become the best and most respected team on base, and had also maintained this reputation despite the usually arguments the proceeded a mission.

Around four years into the team's Stargate travels, General Hammond had finally decided he'd had enough. He gave the team an ultimatum, either they find a way to get along, or they never set foot on another off world planet again.

It was medical doctor Janet Frasier who came up with a solution after hearing of their predicament: Sam and Jack would both spend one month handcuffed together, same with Daniel and Teal'c.

"It is a bit old school" Janet explained, "But it still seems to work in most cases, and the psychological benefits are a lot of the time positive to the individuals"

The entire team protested so strongly that Hammond almost refused Frasier's idea, but then Jack said something while begging to not have to take part in this that set Sam off, and the two began fighting once again. The General ordered that the experiment take place.

That sealed their fates. The first three days the members of the SG-1 made the entire base a living hell. So Hammond ordered them off the mountain, each separately handcuffed couple being assigned a guard to make sure they did not try to try to take of their bonds. But Janet had forgotten the extraordinary friendship that had formed between Sam and Daniel, and the two having been so close nearly suffered from withdrawal of on another. For the rest of the first week, Sam and him spent hours on the phone, talking constantly. It annoyed both Teal'c and Jack so much that they each got rid of any form of contact the two might use to stay in touch with each other. Jack had even gone so far as to rip his own phone out of the wall and ask their guard to shoot it for him.

So for the rest of the month the geniuses were forced to actually interact with the people they were chained to.

Daniel found out latter that it had been easier for him than it was for her. But she explained that eventually they had gotten past the issues they had with one another's faults and began to find that they actually both admired all the good qualities about one another much more than they hated the bad ones.

It was all down hill from there as far as Daniel viewed it. That very same evening that they had gotten the handcuffs removed, Colonel O'Neill walks into the lab where Sam and Daniel had resumed working effortlessly in, and he began to fuss with all the gadgets that he found odd and alien.

Sam laughed at his antics while Daniel watched on helplessly from a corner of the room where he was generally being ignored. Suddenly it became a habit for the Colonel to drop by the lab when he realized Sam was working too hard, and force her out.

The dynamic Edison/Franklin duo soon just became Franklin. Their interaction had toned down to a more normal level, and they were not seen together as often. This freed Daniel's attention to become better friends with Teal'c, who quickly caught on to his more than friendly affection for Dr. Carter, and suggested he make his move.

But when he had finally worked up the courage to do that, Sam and Jack decided to start dating. And eight years after they had met, the two were wearing wedding rings and living a comfortable existence together.

And here he was without the love of his life, bitter and envious and wishing that time travel was not such a random occurrence.

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(A/N: Want me to continue, want to see certain events happen in other alternate realities? Review and give me your ideas for Jack/Sam AU and I'll see what I can do)


	2. AU Hugs

Disclaimer: Yeah, the whole alternate universe thing where I do own Stargate is still pending, so it still doesn't belong to me.

(A/N: and please keep all arms and legs, tentacles, third eyes, second heads, Jaffa staff weapons and otherwise important bodily parts inside the ride at all times.)

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Alternate Reality Four

A young sixteen-year-old Jack O'Neill tried desperately to convince Teal'c to sneak him a beer as they sat across from each other in the commissary eating for all intents and purposes what should have been spaghetti and meatballs. The large Jaffa was a naturally patient being, but the boy before him had an incessantly annoying attitude that was hard to endure, even for his older double General O'Neill.

It had been almost a year since the younger clone of O'Neill had decided to stay with the SGC instead of reliving a teenage life, and Colonel Carter had not allowed him any alcoholic beverages, constantly assuring him he would thank her latter after trying to scientifically to explain the effects alcohol would have on his younger body functions and failing miserably at getting him to understand even the basic health reasons for why she was refusing him his drink of choice.

Finally he had stopped asking, but every now and then when he felt particularly weighed down by life, he would try to nag Daniel or Teal'c or even himself into getting him some.

"I believe that Colonel Carter is right in her refusing-" Teal'c began, but was cut off by Jack slamming his fists on the table and then storming out of the commissary in search of the woman who was generally in charge of his basic well being seeing as how no one else wanted the job.

"Carter!" he yelled angrily when he found her in her lab experimenting on some new alien device, "I swear I'll demote you if I don't have a Budweiser in my hand within the next sixty seconds" he fumed, flopping down harshly on a chair in front of her so she would acknowledge his presence.

Sam sighed and looked up, "I thought you were at the cabin, Jack" she commented without much surprise in her voice. By now she was so used to his attitude that reflected the one strongly of the real Jack O'Neill, that she did not even bother to keep tabs on his normally wandering persona, but despite their perfect similarities she had come to refer to the clone of her CO by his first name so as not to get the two confused.

"Nothing to do at the cabin, but that's beside the point" he held out his hand and glared at her, "Beer. Now."

"Need I remind you that technically you are not my CO and therefore have no power to demote me or threaten court martial?" she replied with the obvious while peering into a telescope that she had just placed a sample under.

Jack knew his protesting was useless against her since he no longer was in a position allowing him influence as to her status in the military, but he was bored and so decided to continue his ranting even though it was getting him nowhere.

"I hate being a General," he commented out of the blue, if only to regain her attention. It worked, because she looked up from her experiment with a curious expression on her face, "Technically _you _aren't a General"

Jack sighed and used his legs to swivel the chair around, "No...I'm not...but speaking..._un_-technically...I am...so shouldn't...I know...that I...hate it...?" he stopped spinning the chair so he could speak directly to her without having to break up his sentence on each turn.

"Well, actually since you only harbor the General's memories and behaviorisms leading up to the point in time of which you were created, and he has had experiences and memorabilia cataloged in his brain functions since your creation, there may have been circumstances of which you were not privy to that could have changed his basic influenced patterns of action and emotion that in turn caused him to react to his current position differently"

Jack stared at her with a set expression on his face that clearly indicated she was talking in a foreign language and he had probably only understood every other three letter word she had used.

Sam shook her head, "Okay, fine, how exactly do you know that you hate being a General?" she asked, although at the moment she was not keen on paying too much attention to his explanation as she was more interested in the current task she had before her and resumed her same actions as earlier before he had stated that attention grabbing comment.

Jack thought about it for a while, not exactly sure how she would take the answer to that question. He wondered if he should tell her the real reason or just let the subject drop.

Finally he decided it was safe for him to spill his guts, after all he wasn't the one who would have to deal with the aftermath. Well, technically he was, but not directly.

"Because I-I mean, _he_, misses the excuses" Jack said tentatively, wanting her to take the bait.

"What excuses?" she asked distractedly, much more interested in the alien artifact sitting on her table then where this conversation was headed, although she should've been worried by the dubious tone the boy across from her had adopted to his voice.

"The excuses to hug you" Jack responded quickly, and then waited for the dominos to fall.

Sam paused in her study. She glanced up at him and saw the mischievous grin on his face.

"What?" she asked, though she knew what he had said, her mind did not quite fully register the meaning of his words and she needed to hear them repeated in order for her brain to begin turning once more.

"All the missions we-I mean you guys used to go on," he continued, delighted that he was able to snag her into this conversation, "The trauma you sometimes went through, it gave you guys excuses to hug each other, or hold hands, stuff like that. He wont ever admit it, but the biggest reason he loved missions and hates being a desk jockey is because he can't get away with that stuff now. He has no excuses to hug you anymore"

Sam gave herself a few minutes to digest this information before she was ready to respond, "That's...an interesting revelation, Jack, but it doesn't do either of us much good" she said, and although her tone was calm and collected, her body tensed and she nervously began fiddling with the engagement ring on her finger.

Jack's notice did not escape this action, "Yea, I get it, you've got Pete now..." he shook his head in frustration at just the thought of all the regulations and her marrying a guy that...wasn't good enough for her. Jack stood up to leave, but not before adding, "Carter, are you marrying Pete because there can't be anything between you and Jack, or are you marrying him because there can and you're just tired of waiting?"


	3. Flashbacks

(A/N: Thanks for the reviews people, my muse has finally come out of hiding and will be joining me shortly)

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Alternate Reality Five

Jonathan O'Neill, more commonly referred to as "Jack", waited impatiently downstairs for his wife, Samantha, better known as "Sam". They were already running ten minutes late because the baby-sitter hadn't gotten there on time.

Sam rushed down the stairs, Janet Fraiser close behind with one-year-old Danielle S.G. O'Neill balanced on her hip, listening intently to Sam's instructions concerning her daughter, "...she should be tired by seven, but try to make her go to sleep at six, she likes to listen to the Mozart CD before she goes to bed and..."

Jack quickly intercepted his wife at the bottom of the stairs and silenced her with a kiss, "Sammie," he said, pulling back from her, "Janet has done this before, more than once, and she's a trained physician"

"I know, I know," she assured him, turning to where Janet stood on the second step to the bottom of the stairs, she reached out and took her growing girl from her friend's arms so she could kiss her goodbye. Civilians often asked what the middle initials of Danielle's name stood for, but they rarely got an answer except for the shared smile that her parents usually had when the question was asked.

It had been seven years that Samantha Carter and Jack O'Neill had worked on SG-1 as upstanding Air force officers, before finally the Goa'uld had been defeated, thanks to Daniel who had given his life saving the years of research that had been put into building a secret destruction device that would finally erase the threat of Goa'uld once and for all. It was a microscopic explosive mineral that would make all races impervious to becoming hosts for the Goa'uld.

It took a while, but finally it was completely distributed throughout the entire galaxy. Hard to believe, but not impossible when you use a grapevine system: humans who know aliens, who know aliens, who know aliens, who know aliens, etc. at least that's how Jack remembered Sam explaining it to him. Eventually, without any hosts, the Goa'uld became virtually extinct.

So S.G. stood for Stargate, the thing that had meant so much to them for seven years, it was the one thing that they had considered more important than their team, and more important than their need to be together.

But now that the threat was gone, Jack was able to retire, and it seemed like he couldn't propose fast enough. And although Jack hated clichés, he could not think of a better way to honor his deceased friend than by naming their child after him.

Sam still worked with the SGC, and she was now a Colonel. Jack didn't mind though, they didn't need her as much now, and she was allowed to bring Danielle to work with her, which usually meant that he couldn't stay away from the base very long when she was called in. Being stuck in an empty home when his girls were up on the Cheyenne Mountain with a hundred flirtatious Airmen walking around was in no way a satisfying day for him.

So eventually after finding out that Jack was never going to be too far behind Samantha Carter, General Brightman, _fondly _referred to as the "Newbie", asked him to be a civilian advisor. A job he reluctantly excepted only after realizing that it was a bit inconveniencing to Sam and the people she worked with, that the only thing he was doing while he was they was getting in the way. But this way he'd be able to stay next to Sam and Danielle and have something to do.

Jack waited eagerly while Sam hugged their daughter tightly to her and murmured promises that they would be back soon. It was not that they hadn't left Danielle home alone before, but it was hard for Sam to shake the attitude she had developed over the years while going on missions through the Stargate. That underlying feeling that every time she walked out the door she may never come back.

So she was constantly giving her child extra long goodbyes, in hopes that if the day does come when never returns home, she'll have said everything that she needed to say, and that Danielle will remember she loved her astronomically and without conditions.

For this reason it was hard for Jack to be upset with her when she made them late because she wanted to be sure that their child knew that no matter what happened to them, despite the fact that they were now out of immediate danger and their daughter was not quite old enough to understand anything that was told to her, that they loved her.

Finally she handed Danielle back to Janet and Jack quickly grabbed her hand as they raced for their already running car. Jack pulled out of their drive way and they were off to a diplomatic celebration being held on PN3- something or other. As they got on the road, he stole a glance at his lovely soul mate.

Sam had stubbornly put on dress pants instead of wearing a gown, although Cassandra and Janet had wanted her to, and Jack couldn't help but smile as he remembered she'd threatened to wear her fatigues if they didn't stop begging her.

His thoughts turned to a more frustrating topic when he realized he could not imagine what it would have been like for them if the Goa'uld had not been defeated almost a year ago. He had barely made it to the punch when he proposed to Sam after she began showing serious interest in another man, a cop no less.

Of course now he could not survive without her, but he hadn't known what he was missing back then, now that he did, he could not think to have one on another minute without knowing she was completely committed to him and only him.

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Alternate Reality Six

He hated being General. No, he despised it. No, actually it was worse than a snakehead.

Jack cursed being set behind a desk and not being their for his team. Not being there with her. And he cursed the cell doors he was now stuck behind because Sam had gone and gotten herself kidnapped...again.

Earlier that morning he had felt a wave of worry transpire to cloud his judgment as soon as he'd seen Teal'c and Daniel return through the gate without Carter. He had suppressed his feelings expertly like he had done so easily in the past as he listened to their account of what happened.

Without a second thought he had transferred full command of the base over to Daniel, and Teal'c and him were back through the gate in no time with SG-3, 7, and 12 as back up. Apparently an unknown species of alien had ambushed the three teammates on their mission earlier that morning and taken Cater captive, they were threatening to kill her if the "leader" of their organization did not meet with them.

But it had not taken long before his men were overthrown by this new race, possessing a much higher amount of manpower and weapons than Jack had been able to compensate for, his teams being the only ones he'd managed to get as the others were off world.

As he sat in his prison, waiting for something to happen since he realized that his captors had the upper hand (and Carter) and he would have to wait for them to make another move.

Jack's mind wandered backwards to the day he first laid eyes on Samantha Carter.

**Flashback**

She was six-years-old and he was thirteen. He had been looking forward to going fishing with his dad all week when just a few days before their trip, an old friend of his father's, Jacob Carter, moved in next door.

Jacob was a soldier in the Air force and needed to be constantly on call to the near by training base, and since his wife had passed away a little ago, there was no one to baby sit Sam while he was gone except Jack's parents.

So while he was helping his father pack up their old truck, a girl with blond pig tails and wide blue eyes walks up the gravel pathway with her dad's old fishing pole dragging on the ground behind her, "Wait for me" she called out, urgently speeding up her pace as fast as she could while still clinging to the end of the fishing rod.

"Who are you?" Jack asked, rolling his eyes at the little girl as she nearly tripped over her own shoelaces trying to reach the vehicle.

His dad came around the truck to see their young visitor and he grinned, "Sammie" his dad said, heading towards her, "Let me help you with that" he took the fishing pole from her hand. "Thank you, Sir," she said politely, giving him a wholehearted salute. Mr. O'Neill laughed and stood up to introduce his son to their new fishing partner.

Jack had begged his dad not to take her with them, "She'll just ruin everything!" he insisted.

His dad raised a hand, "Jack, she's a sweetheart, really, you'll hardly know she's there", Samantha looked up at the teenage boy and grinned, her plump cheeks showcasing a lovely smile, "You know, you're cute" she commented.

"Now how can you say no to that?" his dad asked with a deep chuckle as he started the car.

Jack glared at her and climbed up in the cab next to his father, not even bothering to offer her assistance as she struggled to get up beside him and shut the heavy door, "That's "Sir" to you" he said before the car drove off.

**End Flashback**

Jack couldn't help but groan inwardly, and bang his head against the concrete wall behind him. He swore he would be physically sick if they did anything to her, and he'd get his revenge, harsh unbelievable revenge.

He sometimes wondered if he'd ever made the right choice joining the Air force. It was the one thing keeping him from Sam, and one thing that had brought them together again. He didn't know weather to hate it or be thankful for his position.

**Flashback**

Samantha had just turned sixteen the day Jack came home for a month's leave before he would be shipped over seas to God knows where.

Over the years he had come to tolerate her constantly hanging around, not that he'd had a choice in the matter. As she continued to grow up next door to him, up until she was eleven she would always come over to his house and would want him to play "Military" with her. He constantly told her that he didn't have time, but since he was a true lone wolf and had never made any friends at any point in his teenage life, he always ended up playing with her anyway.

She always told him she was going to be the best soldier any commanding officer had ever had, and he would tell her that girls couldn't be in the military, and she would reply, "Maybe girls can't, but _I _can"

He had to admit after ten years of knowing her, she had accomplished just about whatever she wanted to do. He was twenty-four now and had joined when he was twenty-one, he blamed a lot of that on her and her constant chatter about the military, he figured if nothing else he'd at least get her to stop talking about it. But after only a while spent in training he had learned to love it almost as much as she did.

Sam bounded into his house excitedly before he even had a chance to think after stepping through the door. They were still living next to each other because his dad and mother had suddenly died in a car accident after he turned eighteen, and he inherited the house.

He was nearly bowled over by her as she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him closely, "I'm so proud of you!" she yelled.

He sighed in exasperation, pushing her away and planting his hands firmly on her shoulders to keep her standing still so she didn't harm herself or anything in the house with her bounding enthusiasm, "Sam, do know the meaning of personal space?" he asked in a harsher tone than he meant to.

She frowned, "Of course I do, I was reading the dictionary while you were watching Popeye the Sailor Man before you left, remember?" she said seriously although it was meant to be a joke, instantly having been dispirited by his rough attitude towards her.

He hadn't meant to make her upset. He actually appreciated the fact that she still hung around him incessantly even though she had no reason to anymore. When he allowed himself to think about it, she was all he had left now.

He tried to patch over the slight damage he had caused her good intentions by smiling and drawing her back into his embrace, "Yea" he said, resting his chin on top of her hair, "You're the smart one of the two of us"

They separated so he could see her expression. Her smile slowly returned and she grabbed his hand, dragging him over to the couch and sitting him down, "I can't wait till I'm eighteen" she said, sitting next to him, still holding on to his hand, "I've been studying and there's a place in the Air force for engineering and physics, that's where I want to be. Anyway how was training?"

He looked at her expectant face and knew there was a difference between what it was actually like in the Air force and what she wanted it to be like. Not that Samantha had any delusions as to what was required of a United States officer, or the risks and sacrifices that the job involved seeing as how her dad was an officer himself. It's just that she expected there to be as much reward as there was consequence and hardship, otherwise she would have never been able to fathom what kept soldiers from just quitting.

"It's harder than you think, Sam," he answered after a pause of thought, his eyes turning towards the carpet to avoid her gaze, "And so far I've only seen the tip of the ice burg..."

He trailed off and his eyes took on a contemplative expression that Sam rarely remembered seeing in him before. She got off the couch, thinking about what he had just said, and headed for the kitchen. "Do you want something to eat?" she called from where she now stood at the fridge, "I did some grocery shopping for you and cleaned out your fridge so everything is actually edible" she commented with a hint of sarcasm.

"Funny" he replied, getting up and glancing over her shoulder into his once moldy, containment facility, excuse for a place to keep substances that strongly resembled fourth grade science experiments.

"You know I'm not totally domestically useless, I can do my own shopping" he insisted as she pulled out ingredients for sandwiches and set them on the table to be assembled, ignoring his comment.

They made their food in silence, but all the while Jack's mind was working over time with the aftermath of training and what he may or may not be prepared for when he was shipped out. He was able to come to one conclusion, and before Sam had a chance to take a bite of her lunch, he surprised her with his words by asking, "Sam, would you stay with me this month?"

Sam furrowed her brow, "What do you mean, like spend the night?"

He nodded and felt a bit awkward asking her this, "It's just, I don't really have anyone to spend time with while I'm here, and you're really the only one who's going to see me off or welcome me home. I want to spend as much time with you as I can, because I don't know exactly what might happen to me while I'm gone"

Sam took a while to respond, and at first he thought it would be wise to retract his offer, but then she spoke with a gleeful not in her voice, "Of course I will. And I'm glad you asked because I was afraid I'd have to use the spare key to sneak in here tonight"

He grinned, "Good, you can have my old bedroom...As long as Jacob doesn't mind you staying..." he added almost as an afterthought.

Sam shrugged, "Dad won't mind, he trusts you, especially now that you've joined up. Plus he's gone a lot more now that he's been promoted to Major, I don't think he'll miss me too much"

**End Flashback**

Jack remembered how it had been living with her for those three weeks, and now realized that he shouldn't have been too worried about how her attitude was towards the Air force. Obviously she had faired well.

He remembered when he hugged her at the bus stop before boarding the vehicle that would take him and the other soldiers from that area to the airport, he thanked her for staying with him and said that he would be back soon.

They had promised to write everyday, and she said she wished she could go with him. And at that moment he was tempted to fulfill that wish, but knew it wasn't going to happen, no matter how much he wanted her to go as well.

Jack had kept his promise and had written to her everyday. For every letter he sent he received at least three back and read them each at different intervals so as not to waist the cherished form of communication. He managed a smile for every envelope he opened, even when things were getting heavy and the death surrounding him was almost too painful to bear.

Until one day he received a letter just a few months before he was allotted to fly home after nearly two years. It told of how Sam's father had gotten transferred, and they were moving out within the week. Her words were tearful as she explained she wouldn't be able to be there when he got home, and they might not even be able to see each other again...ever.

Boy, had that been one hell of a statement, the General thought to himself now with a ghost of a smile on his face.

She had still written to him after he returned home, and she left her new address along with the spare key he had given her taped to the front door. But the contact stopped after she turned nineteen, and he had a suspicion as to why.

Then the biggest shock of their life came ages latter, when they met once more at the SGC.

**Flashback**

Samantha entered the room with a proud glint in her eyes and the air of confidence. She could not wait to get started on the Stargate project; it was as if her entire career had been leading up to this. And in reality it somewhat had.

She was so eager waiting for the briefing to begin, that the introductions to the other people she'd be working with seemed to insignificantly breeze by, and she hardly caught on to the name Colonel Jack O'Neill as they were all saluted or otherwise shook hands.

In fact it took both of them about half way through the briefing before something finally clicked and they mutually stared at each other in stunned silence until the meeting was over.

Without any consideration to propriety, Jack practically pushed her out of the room and down the hall to a quiet undisturbed area where he could fully take in this unintentional reunion. "Sam?" he asked, a bit unsure of himself.

"_Colonel O'Neill" _she replied a bit forcefully, making sure that the conversation stayed formal, "It's nice to see you again" she added, allowing just a touch of a smile to enter her expression.

"Yea...it's nice to see you too...Carter" he mumbled reluctantly in response, resisting to urge to pull her into a hug and straightening his posture to remind himself that this was not exactly the place to be acting like long lost buddies with a subordinate officer.

"So you're my CO," she stated a bit self-consciously and her overall change in appearance on attitude was not unrecognized by him. What did he expect? It had been more than a decade since he'd contacted her, much less seen her. And now she was an officer in the Air force.

"I guess so" he responded.

And after that there was no mention of the past friendship they had shared. Nostalgia was not their strong suit. They were just part of a chain of command and nothing more.

**End Flashback**

Jack knew that in a lot of ways the feelings he had for Carter now were partly due to the relationship that they'd had all those years ago.

In fact, recently he had seriously been considering the fact that if either of them tried anything that was against regulations and completely of their own will, it was really the military's fault for putting his soul mate in the same chain of command.

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(A/N: It's a bit vague and choppy, I know. And yes I know Carter has a brother but I just decided not to put him in this one)


	4. Janet's thoguhts

Alternate Reality Seven

It happened right after Edora. After those excruciating three months he was trapped on that planet with...Lara.

For Sam, time had rapidly flown by. She worked endlessly on bringing him home. She didn't even remember getting any sleep, although Janet had said she was constantly dozing off in her lab after staying up for four days straight.

Janet shook her head and sighed to herself as she finished up in the infirmary for the night. She remembered talking to Sam about Jack and barely broaching the topic of their shared feelings for one another, knowing herself that regulations prohibited such conversation.

Even an admission of unprofessional emotions would warrant a court martial, but with a few cleverly placed words the two women had managed to sidestep that incident throughout the weeks while still discussing the main issue.

Sam did not even rest after managing to draw up all the scenarios and schematics they would need for the particle beam. She was right there beside the engineers helping them build and test it, working out each superficial flaw and sending up quick prayers to whichever god cared, just for a little extra assurance.

Janet had considered once in a while if maybe it would be wise to order her to get some sleep, but if anything that would most likely just torture her friend more. And if anyone was going to be the cause of Samantha Carter's recent distress, it was not going to be her. She cared too much, although she knew that type of mentality was a bit unfair to Jack, he was not aware of Sam's current state and to blame him for it was unjust although not entirely untrue.

But she did begin blaming him for what happened after he got home. Sam entered the infirmary late that evening with a frown on her face and a ruthless expression crowded her lake-blue eyes.

Janet almost knew right then what was bothering the Air force scientist, but she let Sam tell her everything and listened intently to each tone and pitch of her voice to determine further at what point exactly her mood had changed drastically from the ecstatic attitude she had harbored that morning.

"He didn't even...I don't know what I was expecting" Sam's words of that conversation that took place nearly five years ago rang clearly in the doctor's head.

"I just thought he'd be happy to go home, that he'd be glad to get back to that stupid cabin and be able to watch the Simpson's" that made both of them smile slightly.

"I don't really care that he didn't miss me. I just thought...He hadn't given up, that he had enough faith in us, in _me, _to know that we would never let him stay stranded. That we would get him back...even if he did give up, shouldn't he at least be grateful? Was it truly so much better there for him? Was she so much better?"

Sam's questions permeated the atmosphere in the otherwise empty infirmary, and the confusion was obvious in her voice and body language as she shifted herself into a comfortable position on the one of the examination tables, pulling her knees up to her chest.

Janet sat across from her in much the same pose and did her best to answer the inquiries Sam had but could not direct at the right person in good conscious.

"You should be asking him this" Janet clarified, "But I guess you two have been through enough, that conversation can wait. Honestly, I think he's being a jerk and that's putting it lightly, but I suppose he's just seen too much in one life to permit himself to feel hopeful in what may have been a hopeless situation. Jack doesn't think like you or anyone else in the SGC, Sam, he has a more basic thought process: he comes, he sees, he conquers, or in this case tries to forget. He doesn't think in terms of "maybes" and "perhaps", he does not theorize or analyze unless you or Daniel are brave enough to ask him to," Janet paused as her word elicited a light grin from her companion, "and he takes things on a day-to-day basis."

"It's that personality and that thinking that makes him let go," Janet leaned forward and lowered her voice, "and you know men" she said, "they can never understand what the problem is with their way of doing things, even if we spell it out for them"

Sam nodded in experienced confirmation to that statement and they both felt a little better for the talk.

Janet had truly believed that her small speech had helped her friend feel better about the situation, but the very next day something happened that neither of them was prepared to handle so suddenly.

Lara showed up unannounced as soon as shift started, and Sam witnessed the Edoran practically throw herself at Jack and the two seemed to pick up right where they left off.

O'Neill's entire week consisted of giving his girlfriend the grand tour of his little part of earth, and with each missed opportunity and passing chance, Sam and him grew apart from their intricately established friendship that had taken two years to create.

The transition was slow at first but eventually Sam showed ultimate signs of seclusion. She talked and interacted with people, but there was something wrong with her new found take on life and the SGC.

It was as if she had lost something, an excuse, an outlet, something that used to keep her from completely burying herself in work.

After a year of seeing her exhibit this behavior, Janet finally realized what it was. Jack and Sam had been a balance for each other, a level for each other's behavior and work etiquette. Janet remembered looking up information on Sam's previous positions and found that while being an exceptional officer, she tended to isolate and overdrive herself if she was not ordered to go home after shift.

Apparently, this had not been a problem for any of her previous CO's since she had been able to maintain this habit and still do her job to her fullest potential, but after Sam had gotten transferred here, Janet noticed a dramatic change in reports.

She had not been working overtime as much as she had previously because Colonel O'Neill would practically drive her out with his insane comments and dangerous handling of her doohikeys. And she was not so isolated and a bit more relaxed because he practically forced her to socialize with threats of taking her laptop hostage.

Janet even noticed a change in reports about the Colonel after he came out of retirement to work at SGC. His old records showed that he was sometimes a bit too relaxed and simple, and in contrast his temper always got the better of him. Now that had not changed much, but enough to be noticeable to any of his previous subordinates, after he had come to the SGC.

Sam did not outright defy him, but her underlying signals and subtle responses to his behavior often times saved Daniel from verbal abuse in their earlier months. Her hints of rebellion and insubordination would've probably thrown him overboard if she were anybody else. But in his eyes she had earned a certain amount of respect and coming from him that was a lot, so he allowed her to keep his sometimes unruly temper in check for the most part, and that made everyone feel a bit more at ease.

Now that was all receding. And it about completely disappeared when in the fifth year of SG-1 being together as a team, Jack married Lara. Neither Daniel or Janet or Teal'c or Cassandra could help the two after that.

Jack became mostly bitter at work and seemingly could not get home fast enough. Sam only came out of her lab to eat, and even then she had a laptop with her so she could work in the commissary.

Janet did not know personally what their behavior on missions was like, but accounts from Daniel told her enough that she was concerned that if this continued, two of her favorite people would be lost completely to themselves.

But General Hammond was not so sure that any action the team could take would help. He requested that everyone simply let it die down.

Eventually it did. But it was like sitting in the eye of a tropical storm. The connection between the two officers was completely severed, and no one could decide which was worse, having them completely withdrawn or so openly cold to each other in true military fashion.

Janet was still shaking her head about it five years after the fact.

Although she had to admit one good thing came of the incident. Her and Daniel realized that there was more at risk with their job than just sacrifice of the physical and social world that existed only outside of what they had come to know. The very morning following Jack's engagement to Lara, Daniel planted a surprising yet welcome kiss on Janet's stunned mouth as she was giving him his pre-mission physical.

And now, now she could not help but smile. Maybe it was a bit too late to save what is dead and buried between some people. But at least you can spawn a new relationship in the face of a destroyed one.


	5. Awkward: the lengthening list

A/N: This chapter was done by a non-AU plot because of the spoilers I saw for Threads and I was just dying to work this scenario out, so after you read this you will be returned to more fascinating alternate realities that I just happen to cook up.

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Alternate Reality Eight: (Our universe)

**Flashback **

"No. You don't understand. I could never be happy this way"

"_Then you will be unhappy for a very long time" _

**End flashback**

She knew it would never happen. Or so she kept trying to convince her now irrational mind.

Logic did not seem to work though, as her thoughts kept wandering back to Fifth's words.

She had known undoubtedly that it was all an illusion, because Pete would never do that to her, she would never give up the SGC, and he would never want to take her away from everything she so loved.

In that virtual fantasy world constructed by Fifth, she had been utterly positive about the man she thought she loved, but when he asked her to marry him...It didn't make sense...usually how she theorizes a scenario to work, it turns out exactly as she thought.

But that was science, and in a more despondent sense, this was psychology. A question that makes your emotions overwhelm you, you're deciding an overtly important choice in your life, and it elicits pleasant and unpleasant feelings in turn once you've had a chance to think upon it and rationalize with your so long implanted patterns of behavior.

She was upset with herself for her immediate reaction to Pete's proposal as her first thought had been: What will the General say?

What kind of girl who is completely confident about the outcome of her hypothetical life decisions for so long, including her response to her boyfriend's life altering inquiry, and with that same question is utterly stripped of all her established perspectives?

The cliché kind, Sam thought with laugh; everyone knows he hates clichés.

"Has science suddenly become comedic?" a sarcastic voice quipped from behind her. Sam realized too late that she had actually been responding out loud to her musings as she turned in her seat to see O'Neill standing there with a stack of official documents in his hand and a distraught expression on his rugged face.

"Sir" she greeted ever professionally as she tried to remember what she was supposed to be working on before her personal mentality had gotten the better of her.

Jack gave her a half smile, which was more like one section of his lips quirking up slightly while the look in his eyes was stern with militant exhaustion.

Without even bothering to let her answer his question he asked another, "I don't suppose you could double as my secretary, eh Carter?"

She smiled sympathetically, "I'm afraid not, Sir, I have some..." she trailed off and glanced at her cluttered lab table for any indication as to what she should have been doing, "research to do on the probability of interactive continuums on essential theoretical alternate realities"

The older man sighed and rubbed his hand over his eyes, "If that's the nutshell, I don't want the elaborated version" he commented, setting his stack of papers down on a cleared part of her desk and then sitting next to her, turned so he could stare at them with a look of malice she had only seen him give a Goa'uld.

She did not respond to his witty notation as she returned to her work. Or lack thereof.

She was aware that it was well passed the hour her shift had ended, and she knew the General was not here just to glare fire balls at his paper work in hopes that in doing so he could make it go away without having to lift a finger.

Usually, though, when he came by her lab to force her to go home, he would start nagging her with bad analogies and giving her annoying ultimatums until she finally got too distracted from whatever she was doing and realized she was going to have to put it off. And yet unbeknownst to him, she had pretty much succeeded in that department, he was still just sitting there without saying a word and initiating their normal routine.

Sam waited a few more minutes before actually trying to get back to work, but her curiosity at her CO's currently uncharacteristic demeanor, stopped her from picking up where she had diverged and instead sparked an interest that she could not ignore.

"Sir, what exactly are you doing here?" she queried and waited for the answer with natural anticipation as he spun the chair from its appointed direction to look at his subordinate.

The expression on his face was far too serious for Sam's liking, but by now she had pretty much gotten used to the many moods of her commanding officer (you tend to pick up on a few things after working side-by-side for eight years with someone) and was prepared to handle them without shock.

"For starters" he began, "Ever since I've been seeing Kerry, you haven't made an effort for conversation past the usual addressing of ranks and the words you spoke an oh so recent," he paused to glance at his watch, "three minutes ago"

Sam didn't know what to say to that. Which was good for Jack because he wasn't finished.

"I can't say I was all that much better at handling your engagement...at least, making out with someone right afterwards helped...I mean..." he lost himself and his eyes glazed over a bit trying to find his way back, this moment became added to a long line of awkward conversations that had cropped up between them over the years.

Fortunately by now, Sam had become and expert for countering Jack's often confusing and socially inept conversational skills.

"Sir," she said, adverting her eyes with a hint of embarrassment, "I've...actually been meaning to have this discussion with you"

That snapped Jack back to where he was supposed to be and he raised his eyebrows, "Really?"

"Yes" she responded, nervously picking up a nearby pencil and beginning to twirl it nervously between her fingers, hoping to make this talk easier, but barely succeeding in lessening even an once of the tension that had sneakily crept in to hang thickly in the air around them.

"I..." she cleared her throat and started over, "Sir, do you remember the Zartac detector test that we underwent about four years ago" heat rose to her cheeks with her own self-awareness at this point.

"Yeah" he muttered, not doing too much better with his own discomfort at this delicate topic.

Carter had to word herself right or she knew she'd have a court martial on her hands. She took a shallow breath and let it out with her next sentence.

"Well, some of the things that were said...I think they still apply", her cryptic statement had just saved them both and Sam found herself thankful for the many shared experiences that had allowed their speech to fly under the radar for the most part.

"I know" was his answer.

For a few moments they each nervously fidgeted in their respective places before Jack got up and reached for his pile of papers.

"Bye Carter" he mumbled quietly, almost like a sigh, before exiting the room.

Sam cringed from the easing tension and then proceeded to let her head drop unceremoniously to her desk in defeat. Not as she had been planning it to go, but talks with O'Neill rarely met her predetermined criteria.

She had let him know how she felt. There was nothing else to do but toss on a happy face and marry her fiancé. Meanwhile the echo of Fifth's words would continue to plague her mind.

"_Then you will be unhappy for a very long time"_


	6. That's an order

A/N: thanks for the reviews ya'll, hope you enjoy this next one.

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Alternate Reality Nine

Sam was freezing and she wasn't even off world.

Her house had been bombarded with chunks of hail earlier that month and now it was being encompassed by snow that had been falling since that morning and had not let up in its fast moving pace.

Her heater had broken over an hour ago, and though she was a physics genius and could fix the most complicated machinery the SGC and current friendly alien planets had to offer, she could not for the life of her figure out how to fix her heater.

So she sat on her couch piled under every quilt she had been able to find, with her laptop resting on her knee and her gloved fingers typing away at the keys as she did research on some interesting Tokra technology, the data of which she had been able to sneak off the base with despite General O'Neill's watchful eye.

She had surprisingly been forced away from her lab by a tired looking Daniel, who had pulled a few straight all-nighters with her that week since they had no currently scheduled missions, and even he agreed that it was about time to get some rest.

She had invited Daniel over so they could still work together at her house, and he had agreed because even in the face of extreme exhaustion the science twins' idea of relaxing was with an intellectual challenge.

But unfortunately, the General had foreseen this and ordered RO'tib to take Daniel home, knowing that with the steadily falling snow, he would not risk the trek to Samantha's end of town just for brainstorming and vise versa.

Sam worked on her computer until her hands began to get numb in spite of their wool covering. She realized she wouldn't be able to stay in her house much longer without managing to contain any real heat.

Her roommate, Major/Medical doctor Janet Frasier had decided to brave the weather as soon as the heater had knocked out and was over at Daniel's, no doubt with RO'tib and Sybil, the other two members of SG-1.

RO'tib, an Alarisian, had been on Sam's team since their second mission when SG-1 rescued his planet from the deceptions of the Goa'uld, and he was pronounced as a 'gift' to the humans for the use of being a protector of the heroes that had shown them the truth.

At first O'Neill had protested this new addition, but it was ultimately up to General Hammond who had decided it would be a good idea, and soon the alien had become a respective member of the team and was now arguably Jack's best friend.

But Sybil was fairly new, having joined after O'Neill was promoted to General, and so far having been a good addition to the team.

Sam would have preferred that Janet join them, but the General rationalized that she was very valuable personnel, being the chief doctor on the SGC staff, and he did not want to risk her when she was the reason so many of them had kept alive all these years after numerous encounters with alien viruses and disease.

So Sybil, a civilian botanist and cultural study who had previously worked on SG-5 until it was decided that her expertise would be better suited to more advanced explorations, was chosen.

It had become a custom for everyone on the SG-1 team to socialize during off base hours at Daniel's house. Mostly because it was the largest and had all the interesting intellectual stimulants that their group desired, and because it had a comforting aura that never quite allowed you want to leave.

The only reason she hadn't joined Janet was because she knew that being there with everyone would just distract her from work and for some reason, on this particular day when nothing of utter importance required such attention, she needed to treat her current research like it was a life and death situation.

She knew she was not working on the real issue that had made her thrust herself even more adamantly into work. Her boyfriend of almost a year, Pete Shanahan, had gotten shot (A/N: Okay, Lets hear the collective cheers) two months ago, and she was still feeling hurt by the fact even though she knew she had no right to his grievance.

She had turned down his offer of marriage only a few days prior to his death, because of some tiny inkling of need that she harbored in her subconscious for another man.

When she had told the General about his proposal, she had gauged his reaction carefully. It was thoughtful, he did not meet her gaze as he examined the velvet box and when he did look at her there was an underlying question in his eyes.

Sam decided to leave the house before her thoughts got the better of her, and she bundled up and climbed into her car, turning the heater on full blast. She wasn't sure if she should attempt going to Daniel's, it wasn't exactly the closest, but she ultimately feared driving to the cozy country looking home that _was_ the safest drive from her vicinity.

She figured facing her CO was probably better than freezing to death in the long run. So she showed up at his house with her arms tightly wrapped around her and no desire to explain herself.

Jack stood at the door a minute in a t-shirt and jeans that was contradicting to her own apparel and to the obvious season's wrath blustering outside. He looked her over with a grin threatening to light up his face as he said, "Cold, Carter?"

She glared at him incredulously as he let her in. But the temperament that he always caused with his witty sarcasm melted in the heated warmth of his abode as a comfortably fire-lit living room greeted her ice cycle body.

She quickly pulled off two layers of clothing and was left with a black turtleneck and jeans.

"Janet called," he mentioned as he welcomed her over to the couch, "She told me your heater broke, what took you so long?"

Carter shrugged, "I was working, Sir" she attempted lamely, and sat down on the generously cushioned sofa, which sunk downward and supported the impression of her body.

Jack gave her a look but did not say anything as he fixed some coffee for the both of them and joined her.

"So why didn't you head over to Daniel's?" he asked, picking up a recently abandoned remote and turning on the television to find a movie that had just begun to show its opening credits.

"I didn't think it was wise to drive that far, Sir" she said, sipping her steaming cup of concentrated caffeine, causing the wafting vapors to curl around her face and warm her cheeks.

"Lethal Weapon Three?" Carter voiced the title that flashed across the screen.

"Good movie" Jack commented with a smile, "Ever seen it?" he then asked.

She nodded, "Surprisingly enough, RO'tib made me watch a Lethal Weapon marathon with him a while ago, he was adamant that I would like it"

"Did you?" Jack questioned a bit suspiciously, perhaps afraid to accidentally open the floodgates of Carter's amazingly dramatic critiquing abilities, which often left most astounded and completely disgusted with themselves for ever at one point enjoying what she so expertly criticized.

"Yes, to a certain extent..." she said, trailing off into her own thoughts. She had actually thought that Mel Gibson's character strongly resembled that of a particular then Colonel, and maybe that was just in her head, but RO'tib's commentary on her being similar to the Lorna Cole character certainly earned him a few verbal reprimands.

Less than a quarter of the way through the movie, Jack began scanning different channels but finally gave up and turned it off so he could focus his attention on his visitor, "I'm probably going to regret asking this," he began, "but have you read anything good lately? And I mean an actual book, with imaginary characters and a plot, non of that science journal junk"

Sam had to think hard before responding, "There were a few old legends that Daniel translated from some hieroglyphs he found on PN4-738. He uploaded them onto my computer so I would have something to do on my downtime besides work, especially after...after Pete died"

Jack did not respond to this statement, but instead changed the subject entirely, "You've been doing great with command so far" he complimented, hoping to lift her spirits a bit.

Sam gave him a tiny smile, which disappeared quickly, like most of her expressions of happiness had been doing lately. You had to really concentrate nowadays to notice any real enjoyment being mirrored on her lovely face.

Jack glanced at a clock on one of his lamp stands and noticed it was almost nine-thirty proceeding into the nighttime hours so he decided the best thing he could offer his troubled officer right now was sleep.

"I hope you're not planning on heading back to that fridge of a house any time soon, I wont have my favorite Colonel freezing to death in her sleep" he commented nodding towards the clock and drawing her attention to the time.

Sam raised an eyebrow at him, "Is that an invitation, Sir?"

He was hurried to reply, "No, it's an order, you have a tendency to turn down my invitations"

That warranted a beaming grin and he returned with a slight smile, "The guest room is already stocked, Leann did the decorating herself"

Sam tensed a bit at the name, but hoped he didn't notice.

Leann was Jack's girlfriend of almost a year and she was also one of the nurses at the SGC; he had started dating her around the same time Sam had hooked up with Pete.

At first Sam and Leann had gotten along fine. They had been acquaintances long before Jack showed interest in her, and then had become friends when she started asking Sam questions about him. But not even a week after Jack and Leann had started seeing each other, Sam walked in on Leann kissing another man.

Leann had tried to cover things up by insisting to Sam that it was nothing, just an old flame that wanted to get back together, and who had kissed her against her will.

At first, though skeptical, the Major had let it slide, but on occasion she'd catch evidence of Leann having continued affairs with other men, and just recently had caught her once again in a compromising position with someone who wasn't Jack.

Needless to say she no longer liked the girl, and in fact harbored malice towards her, but she was not going to be the one to tell her CO this. Experience kept her from notifying the General, knowing full well his reaction would not be in her favor, and she decided that she wanted to avoid that type of confrontation.

"Um...speaking of Leann" Carter tried, a little flustered at the fact that he was going to let her spend the night here while his girlfriend was out of state on some business, "Will she mind that I stay?"

"Why would she?" O'Neill asked, typically clueless, although Sam new for a fact that he had noticed the thin line that Leann and her had been walking with each other as of late.

"Well, Sir, we're not exactly...on speaking terms" and understatement but phrased effectively enough.

Jack shrugged, "I know"

He did not offer any further clarification, opting instead to stand up, guzzle down the rest of his coffee while heading in the direction of his room, "See you in the morning, Carter"

Sam sate there for a while after he left, trying to wrap her brain around the complicated dilemma that her supposedly uncomplicated CO had just given her.

He had made it clear that it was an order. But what was he going to do if she disobeyed it, court martial her for insubordination? _That _would go over nicely with the Air force: a decorated officer of male persuasion orders his female subordinate to spend the night at his place for warmth.

She almost laughed.

But with the tedious way things had been going with Leann, Carter was not sure if it was a good idea, and was thinking maybe she should head over to Daniel's.

Though one look at the clock told her there was no way that was going to happen.

So she sighed and headed in the direction of the guest room.

It was an order after all.


	7. Confusing

**Alternate Reality Ten**

He was incessant.

_Frustratingly _incessant, to a point that she even went so far as to use the word "hate" when she was asked her opinion about him.

The worst part is, he made her laugh, usually when she was in public, and everyone thought that her precious rant about his behavior was teasing banter. That's one of the things she hated about him. He always undermined her, at least in social situations.

When it came to their job, she surpassed him in all aspects. She was much smarter, a better fighter, and most of the time avoided being kidnapped by some weird alien race or another.

But he never cared that she was better than him.

In fact, he almost seemed to enjoy it when she tried to flaunt her superiority. That just made her feel egotistical when in reality she just wanted to show him she could make it in a mostly male dominated profession.

It satisfied her when she could see his blank stare, along with that of her fellow officers, during a briefing where she had all the answers.

Daniel told her that her constant need to impress him, when he wasn't even in the service, indicated she must have a thing for him.

She disagreed, of course.

Besides, he was married, or he had been,nowa widower. And had a son. Who happened to be her 21C, and that was a rather interesting combination.

The gate program started when Charlie O'Neill was fifteen, and his father, Jack O'Neill, resident linguist, had accidentally gotten his boy involved with the Asguard.

It wasn't as if he could've helped it. Thor liked to visit his house. So Charlie was given a security clearance to know vital information, and seven years latter joined SG-1 when his father retired for the second time.

But Jack never officially left the program. He always hung around, mostly to see how his son was fairing.

He usually sat in her lab referencing languages on artifacts, and she wondered why he didn't just use his own office, but he said people kept barging in on him and her lab was quieter because she had no life and only Daniel ever came to visit her. She had responded to that with a glare that would've brought a Jaffa warrior to his knees, but had to concede that he had a point.

He tried to cheer her up once by commenting in a joking manner that Charlie had a crush on her.

She refused to believe it because for one, the linguist's son was much younger than her at the age of twenty-three, and not to mention, unlike his father, was bound by regulations. So she had just pushed it to the back of her mind dismissively and had gone back to work after explaining this to him.

She often wished Jack wouldn't bother badgering her to get out more. And more often than not, she found herself wishing that he would give her a reason to do just that.

Sara, his wife, had died after the first year of SG-1 being together as a team. He always confessed that they had had problems, and might have gotten divorced if she hadn't gotten in that accident.

Alright, so this line of thought just proved that Daniel knew her too well, she did have a thing for him.

But he could make her so angry…he was a walking contradiction in terms. For instants, he was a linguist; he knew at least a thousand different languages from a thousand different species, yet the simplest conversation held with her (in English) caused him to trip over his tongue.

He was intelligent, yet acted like he didn't know anything unless the situation absolutely demanded his expertise. And his humor was complicated, something that made people have to think, yet still he managed to make her laugh, even after having to explain the joke. It confused her, challenged her, puzzled her, and made her smile to think about it.

Sam Carter sat in her lab with her mind a tangled mess, not unlike the scene on her table, his books and papers mixed in with her science projects and reports.

And then, the object of her thoughts sauntered in.

He was holding a tray with two pieces of pecan pie on it and…a bottle of champagne.

Her curiosity spiked. This was new.

He didn't say a word. Just cleared a spot, set the tray down, went over to dim the lights, and came back to pour them drinks. Then he pulled an item from the pocket inside his jacket and let it dangle in front of her eyes as he stood behind her, his face leaning close to hers.

The item was a necklace. A simple gold chain, with a tiny, purple winged ceramic angel hanging in the middle with a silver harp in her hand.

Sam's eyes widened.

He simply grinned, chuckling slightly, the act revealing itself against her skin.

"For being my saving grace" he whispered, and slipped the piece of jewelry around her neck.

His words offered her a startling perspective.

She wondered when this had happened. When friendship, or whatever you could categorize their relationship as, had suddenly become…this…what was _this _exactly, and why hadn't she noticed all the moments leading up to it?

This man was incessant.

Adorably incessant.


	8. Losing thoughts

(A/N: the little squiggly line stands for thought process, looks like this: >> )

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Alternate Reality Eleven 

Colonel Samantha Carter's thoughts were brimming with astronomical equations and random medleys of reports she needed to file and mission briefs as she briskly walked the halls of the SGC, heading for her lab.

With her promotion, she hadn't been able to do too much technical research lately, and there was certain technology that nobody on base except her could understand in the right capacity.

>>Daniel needs to decipher those markings on the stones from PX4-278, Teal'c wants me to talk to General Mackenzie about giving him some vacation time to visit his son, Lord only knows what Jack has been up to lately and I'm tired of trying to keep tabs on him…The effects of neutralizing those electric energies in the metallic substance we found on P29-8X3 have so far proven fruitless, but finding the cause of consistent responses to rudimentary elements could be useful if I ever get a chance to sit down and actual look at the thing today…I need to finish that report from our last mission and file the necessary paperwork concerning our recent negotiations with the inhabitants of PV7-2N3…>>

A pair of footsteps falling in beside the thoughtful Colonel did nothing to interrupt her frantic mind as she contemplated the stresses of the day that awaited her.

"You really should take a break"

"Right, Jack"

>>We have a briefing in four hours, were departing for a supposedly non-hostile planet, but you can never trust the MALP these days, the last two times we were sent harmless images we ended up walking into a battlefield, the Jaffa and Tokra are getting pretty restless and I doubt they'll last much longer before breaking into an all out war…The Goa'uld haven't been playing very nicely either, and as much as I hate to think about it, the Trust are causing us a million and one problems as well…SG-3 is on downtime because Major Frederick got shot, they said they found some subtle nuclear properties in the plant life on the last planet they visited, I'd love to have been able to test it but it got shipped out too soon… Janet's been nagging me to get some rest, she's threatening to sedate me…>>

"Being second in command of the whole base must suck"

"Sometimes"

>>Jack must not have anything to do, but it's no surprise, we haven't found very much use for his negotiation skills lately…Four hours till the briefing? I could get paperwork done, but then I wont have time to test those energy anomalies…I should grab a cup of coffee, I haven't fallen asleep since the day before yesterday, I'll sleep when the war's over... Janet was brought a new anti-virus from the Tokra to study, it's supposed to make one immune to radiation, it's been perplexing her and she's going to need my help eventually, I can see it in her face that she despises asking me when I'm already juggling so much but she'll need to sooner or latter…We're short on medical staff and Mackenzie isn't doing a thing about it… sometimes I think we could've gotten a better replacement but there are too many people out there who want this program shut down to give us anyone like General Hammond who'd fight them at every turn…>>

"You need caffeine"

"Yes"

>>Oh, my blessed lab, how I've missed you…Now, first I'll finish the report, work on that metal substance for a while, draw up those papers, then I might have enough time to sneak in some research…What's this?>>

"Coffee, drink"

"Thanks"

>>He's sweet. Anticipating my needs. He always does that, too many years working together, and he's a civilian…wait a minute…he was supposed to take the day off…he has never come into work on his day off before…>>

"Sam"

"Hm?"

"Marry me?"

"Okay"

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(A/N: Oooo, my muse has been nice to me)


	9. Their ballet

(A/N: My symbiote, or muse for terminology reference, has informed me that he would like to see this dynamic through, so blame him for the hopeless romantic routine lacing this fic.)

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**Alternate Reality Twelve**

It was an adorable sight he had to admit. Seeing them scrunched up together on that too small chair in Daniel's office.

Checking up on them was the highlight of his overtime.

It'd start two hours after their shift had ended. He would stroll on down to Sam's lab and find them working away together, lost in their realm of genius, science, and archeology. They worked so well with each other you would have never thought that they were working on totally different things.

Their movements were fluid and communicative. It was reminiscent of a ballet. Almost. A lot more crude of course, being as to what kind of jobs they had, and her, roughened by her chosen profession as an Air force officer.

Jack had given up years ago trying to force Daniel Jackson and his 21C to go home. He had done everything short of directly ordering Carter off the base. Which is the one thing she would respond to but the one thing he was unwilling to do for the simple reason that he enjoyed watching them.

The sight calmed him. It was methodic, their motions, and lethargic their random mutterings and exclamations of breakthroughs.

It wasn't hard to get hypnotized by the appearance they created. On more than one occasion he had come down here and found an SF lingering in the doorway, completely transfixed by this presentation of their abilities.

After about five minutes or so, he'd head back to his office and continue the excruciating duties that entailed the rank of General.

Another three hours would pass. Five hours after the time that Doctor Jackson and Colonel Carter were supposed to be heading home.

He would come to take another peek at the SGC's resident magicians of all things intellectual.

Only this time he would head in the direction of Daniel's office. They would've needed to stretch their legs about an hour or so ago, and would have walked around the base animatedly chatting about their doohickeys and languages and naquadah.

They would've taken some of Sam's research with them, and then ended up outside of Daniel's office.

They were there. After eight years of this practiced habit, it's hard to be wrong.

This time you could here them talking with each other. Where as in her lab you would not be privy to such dialogue, Carter liked things quiet, but now that they were in his designated environment, she was gladly taken with conversation while they hacked away at a different workload.

Their movements changed to compensate for the smaller space and cluttered array of artifacts and books, but they were no less mesmerizing, and it wasn't hard for them to draw an audience of lingering over-timers and the scant graveyard shift crew just because they had a kind of enchantment about them.

It wasn't just the way they did things; it was their personalities, the people they were and those who knew them. Almost a complex combination of factors, like one of Sam's astronomical equations.

_Almost_ that complicated. _Almost_ as much out of his mind's reach as her advanced form of technobabble. _Almost_…not quite eluding his grasp though.

Around the seventh hour of their after-shift efforts, one of them would find that they had suddenly become immune to the caffeine effect of two hundred cups of coffee…yeah, it would be about two hundred by now…and that one would give way to the comfort of Daniel's too small lazy chair.

Another hour and he or she would be asleep. Then the other miscreant in the room would note how welcoming a rest seemed, and she or he (probably she, Sam never drank as much coffee as Daniel, so on night's like these she was able to reap the full benefit of the caffeine) and would head over to settle next to the other one and eventually fall into a quiet slumber.

Jack felt so fatherly watching them as he mused about the day while hovering in the doorway.

It was a wonder that they hadn't pursued anything together after being forced to admit their feelings four odd years ago under the observation of that Zaytarc testing device.

But they wanted to wait. They were good at taking things in stride. Life in general was more of a walk for these two than a race. At least when they had the fortune to be on Earth and not some alien planet getting caught under fire by bad guy Goa'ulds and such.

They were not bound by the rules.

Just the ones they had created for themselves so that SG-1 could function properly.

Jack was content, at least, to simply know they loved each other. He would probably be scared to death every night, seeing them work the way they do and not knowing that they had feelings for one another beyond those of friendship. He'd probably think they were aliens.

That sounded maybe a bit too narrow minded.

Of course they didn't _need _to love each other beyond friendship to have this type of work effect. He supposed that eight years of them such being in a platonic relationship would promote the same.

But this routine…their ballet…had started when they first laid eyes on each other on Abydos.

You had to think they had some sort of supernatural power that bound their souls, and that made the relationship more than platonic.

And perhaps that's what gave them such control to wait until the very last battle had been fought.

It was because they knew each other…Spiritually, intellectually; emotionally…they could wait for the physical aspect of it all…they could wait to declare these feelings to the world.

He felt so old watching them…yet so timeless…

The most radiantly adorable thing in the universe he knew was tucked up on that chair. Samantha Carter and Daniel Jackson. He couldn't imagine a better pair.

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(A/N: Yes, I know…Not Jack and Sam…But what do ya' think? My symbiote wont critique)


End file.
